WPL 2025: Gujarat Giants breeze past UP Warriorz to seal first win of season

Vadodara (Gujarat) [India], February 16 (ANI): A spirited performance from Priya Mishra and skipper Ashleigh Gardner helped Gujarat Giants prevail over UP Warriorz with a six-wicket triumph, sealing their first win in the Women's Premier League 2025 season on Sunday.
For the Giants, it all started with winning an important toss and putting the UP Warriorz into bat, considering the amount of dew that surrounded the field towards the latter half of the game.
While chasing a modest 144-run target, the Giants lost top-order batters Beth Mooney and Dayalan Hemalatha for ducks. Laura Wolvaardt (22) and skipper Ashleigh Gardner (52) steadied the sinking ship by stitching up a 55-run partnership.
Gardner led the batting attack from the front and delivered a quickfire fifty, which dented Warriorz's hopes of defending their target. UP Warriorz fought back against the run of play and dismissed Wolvaardt and Gardner.
But Deandra Dottin (33*) and Harleen Deol (34*) stayed at the crease to bring the Giants home with a six-wicket win with two overs to spare. The dew factor, along with a couple of dropped catches and some sloppy fielding, helped the Giants en route to victory.
Earlier in the match, UP Warriorz's batting order collapsed in the middle order, which saw them settle for the lowest total in the WPL Season 3. The Gujarat Giants' solid bowling performance ensured that the Warriorz batters never really got the opportunity to spread their wings in their innings.
Kiran Navgire (15) went straight down to business and offered a good start to the Giants. However, her expedition on the field was cut short after Deandra Dottin trapped her in front of the stumps. Vrinda Dinesh (6) failed to leave much of an impact and eventually got cleaned up by Ashleigh Gardner.
After being reduced to 22/2, the Warriorz's spirits were lifted by a 51-run partnership between Deepti Sharma and Uma Chetry. But once the Giants forced a breakthrough, things went downhill for UP Warriorz.
Chetry's scratchy knock came to an end on 24(27) after miscuing her shot to Priya Mishra off Dottin. Priya Mishra weaved a web of spin and bowled a sensational over to remove Tahlia McGrath (0) and Grace Harris (4), reducing the batting side to 78/5.
A late cameo from Alana King and Saima Thakor propelled UP Warriorz to a fighting total of 143. Priya starred with the ball for the Giants, returning with figures of 3/25 (ANI)